Editing - Opening Sequence and Exterior Shot

Thursday 3rd March 2011

Today I have started with the editing process and discussed with Michaela and Shasta which shot to use. We decided to go with the Pan left to right. In the editing suite I am using Adobe Premier. I have used Windows Movie Maker in the past for my own entertainment when I am have been making fan films for YouTube. So using Adobe Premier is much more advanced and complex than WMM. I will find this hard at first to get used to but I will find that I will enjoy using it with the more possibilities I have with it than those on WMM.




 

Here I have started to add the opening to the film with our production logo which is still in making and the exterior shot of Burnley Mechanics.
Through this session I have learned a few new skills using Adobe Premier and will make the editing process a lot easier.

Group Discussion - Backups, Descions Made, Film and Editing Proccess

Wednesday 2nd March 2011
Today I went to film the exterior shot of the theatre Burnley Mechanics (See screenshots below) BM is situated in Burnley and I had a general idea where it was. Yesterday Tuesday 1st March only me and Shasta where present and our teacher discussed what we could to get the filming process going. Shasta doesn't live in Burnley and doesn't know the area well so I took up the responsibility to go and shoot the exterior shot of BM. I looked at 3 possible types of shots I could use 1.) Mid shot 2.) Pan left to right 3.) Pan down
I looked on Google Maps and searched for Burnley Mechanics and used the Street View to have a look at the location.

Mid Shot
Hold for 4 Seconds Max

Pan Left to Right
Length: 4-6 Seconds

Pan Down
Length: 4 Seconds

Possible Shot
I decided not to go with this one seen has the audience wouldn't be able to see the theatre clearly and see exactly where they are suppose to look or know where the characters are placed.

This is the Street across from Burnley Mechanics. I will be on this side so I can get a good shot of the building and be able to use the 3 shots I have chosen.









I planned that I would be there at 9:00 am and be no longer than 15 minutes has I wouldn't need too long filming and would give me enough time to get good shots, as it is suited on a busy road which means cars and buses go past. As well has this it gives me a good enough time not to get anyone from the public in the shot.

Group Discussion - Storyboard and filming idea's - UPDATE

Just discussed some ideas for the filming process and were we are up to with the Storyboard. We have discussed filming ideas. The girls, before I rejoined, had a few friends who would be representing the characters for our film. After discussion about the possibilities of what might go wrong, we decided that as a backup Me and Michaela will be backup actors for the girls. Seen has the other people are from a different college, there is the possibility that they might not turn up for the filming days and that we would have to schedule our filming times around our college timetable as well has theirs. After more discussion me and Michaela will be the girls instead making it easier for us to film and that we are filming at our college and that we will be scheduled at the right time to film, we will be filming in our time for media.

I found this gave me peace of mind, knowing that we won’t be waiting around and wasting time, that the filming process can flow easier, as the location is on the site, we attend the college, we are filming at the same time we are scheduled to as well has in our own time and it is easier for us to communicate to keep in contact just in case one of us can’t make it for the filming days.


Group Production Roles

Opening Sequence Planning Sheet

Narrative Planning Sheet

Here are the Storyboards:

Storyboard 1

Storyboard 2

Storyboard 3

Storyboard 4

The Dark Knight

Narrative Features

The Dark Knight

Intro of Characters

The main character who plays Batman/Bruce Wayne is shown has the famous recognised Batman, superhero, mysterious and iconic. In the first scene where we see Batman we have several different looking Batman's, but when we see the recognisable Bat mobile we know that this is the real Batman. When we see him in action we can tell the fakes from the real batman as the so called "helping" Batman's, trying to help batman since there has been loss of activity from him trying to save Gotham, they are easily defeated by the villains within the scene. The real Batman has all the cool gadgets which make up for the high technology profile, with the body armour, attachment rope and sharp knife equipment on the arms. As well has this his fighting technique is more clean and careful, he isn't clumsy and defeats the villains with little effort. Later on in the film we see him as his actual character, no deep voice and mysterious aura but a lighter voice, less serious, a witty charm and a handsome face and figure. But he still is arrogant and shows no fear. The Joker on the other hand is revealed as a clever, sneaky and dangerous guy. In the opening scene there are a group of men wearing clown masks all are raiding a bank, but some of them turn on each other and shoot each other. In  the end the joker is one of them and walks away with all the money. Alfred is Batman's/Wayne's Butler he has been Wayne's family's butler all Wayne's Life. So with his aged face, deep wrinkles and fatherly voice, shows how long he has been with Bruce and how well he knows him. He has helped him become Batman and has developed his equipment and made what Bruce does now as a hero and who he is today. As in the scene where he is talking to Bruce, he seems caring and looks upon him as a son. He helps Bruce with the stitches in his arm from the scene before, where a dog attacks him and this shows how he cares about him and still helps him with little things such as that.

Locations

China - Hong Kong
U.S.A - Illinois/Chicago, L.A/California
U.K - England/London, Bedfordshire, Surrey, Hertfordshire, Liverpool, Buckinghamshire, Middlesex

Iconography

Christian Bale - Famous British Actor (Well known for - Batman Begins, American Psycho, Terminator Salvation and Equilibrium

Heathe Ledger - Famous American Actor (Well known for - Brokeback Mountain, 10 things I hate about you and The Patriot)

Michael Caine - Famous British Actor (Well known for - Batman Begins, Children of Men and The Prestige)

Gary Oldman - Famous British Actor (Well known for - Leon, The Fifth Element, Batman Begins, Harry potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire and Harry potter and the Order of the Phoenix)

Morgan Freeman - Famous American Actor (Well known for - The Electric Company, The Shawshank Redemption Se7en and Bruce Almighty)

Record placement and Feature of Credits

At the beginning of the film, there is a similarity with the opening with that in the film "Inception" where they make the Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures introduction black and white, here in The Dark Knight, they gave it a colour filter of dark blue, this includes the DC Comics introduction too, giving it a chilly and dark mood to the film. This gives the audience a chilly or dark frame of mind of the film throughout from the opening.  This blue filter is also continued through the opening where there is a gathering of heavy clouds and the Batman symbol (a bat) appears, formed by the heavy clouds, this zooms in and the bat fills the screen and the whole screen is filled with black and then cuts straight to the opening first scene.


How Effective was this

I found the effect of the introduction to Warner Bros, Legendary Pictures and DC Comics really unique and effective, just like that in "Inception" the blue filter gave it a chilly and dark mood which set me into a frame that the rest of the movie will be like this. I loved this effect and think that other movies should carry this on, it's really creative and attracts the audience. The way it was carried on with the Batman introduction, they tend to be the same, clouds and a large group of bats forming the bat logo which then zooms in. But this time no bats where used but the clouds where and the blue filter being carried on was very effective too, carrying on that chilly and dark atmosphere for the film.

Inception

Narrative Features
Inception

Intro of Characters
Cobb is shown as a serious character, he dresses in a black suit and is shown with a gun in his possession. Later in the film we are told that he is in someone’s dream and that they are also in some other persons dream, a dream within a dream. He is the lead of the situation and has his friend Arthur to help him. Cobb seems to be able to deal with intense and dangerous situations well, it seems has though he has been doing this job for a long time. Cobb has to deal with his emotions of his children and his wife. His wife is no longer with him but still appears in the dreams, as does his children. His wife is used to wake him up from a dream that he needs to be awakened from, by killing him in the dream. Also by waking up someone up they can for example from the film, Cobb is shaken and slapped in the face outside the dream which he reacts to inside the dream by being pushed around, this seems not to work, so he is shoved into a bath full of water and he wakes up and gets out and the scene continues. Killing people in the dream wake them up but causing them pain is only in the mind. 

He is a determined person and will go to extreme lengths to get what he needs. Arthur is also a serious character, with both these characters being serious it seems what they are doing is highly important. Arthur seems to be close to Cobb has they both end up again with each other after the last complicated scenario of the dream inside another dream after Cobb says "every man for himself" and walks away. Cobb goes looking for someone else to help him when going into people’s minds, he needs someone to create architecture, mazes etc. He finds a student called Ariadne who seems to grasp the dream and its possibilities well, she isn't freaked out and nor does she not believe it. Dressed in normal clothes, red jacket, black pants, white loose shirt and scarf she seems a normal girl but her doesn't match to her intelligence. She's confident in and outside the dream and seems fearless. Cobb and Arthur use a brief case containing technical equipment that link up to those entering someone’s dream and combining their sub conscious.

Locations
U.S.A - Los Angeles, California, Warner Bros Studios
U.K - Bedfordshire, Hampshire, London
Canada - Alberta
France - Paris
Japan - Shizuoka
Morocco

Iconography
Leonardo DiCaprio - Famous American Actor (Well known for - Titanic, The Department, Catch Me If You Can and Romeo + Juliet)

Ellen Page - Well known Canadian/American Actress (Well known for - Juno, Hard Candy and X-Men: The Last Stand)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Well known American Actor (Well known for - 500 Days of Summer, 3rd Rock from the Sun and 10 things I hate about you)

Tom Hardy - Well known British Actor (Well known for - Layer Cake, RocknRolla and Bronson)


Record Placement and Feature of Credits
Only Distributor (Warner Bros) and Legendary Pictures intro segment was played, but in black and white. No other credits are played.

How effective was this
I like the Distributors intro segment in black and white, gives it a uniqueness to the film and shows experimental feel that adds to the style of the film. No actors names where placed it just went straight to it, shows getting straight to the point and is not like other films. I personally loved this and held my attention throughout the film.

(Picture Source - http://incontention.com/2009/12/15/inception-poster/)

Pulp Fiction

Narrative Features
Pulp Fiction

Intro of Characters
Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) both swear a lot, shows how they are informal and show that they have a comfortable friendship together. They seem calm when handling a gun, seems as though they have been mob hit men for a long time. The witty and humorous quotes gives a light hearted feel to the scene. Both men wear black suits shows smart, serious and professional job. The guns show danger, as the scene goes on Jules shoots a boy (aged 18) and then both Jules and Vincent shoot him dead.  Jules is more serious than Vincent he talks to the group of boys he is questioning seriously but he adds that witty and humorous script to make it a little more light hearted to entertain the audience. Vincent doesn't look too bothered and seems more relaxed and casual. 

Ringo and Yoland are robbers, the scene they are shown at the beginning placed in a cafe/restaurant, they talk about what they have done in the past , robbing wallets etc which shows they are criminals but their appearance is normal both are wearing normal clothes. Ringo wears a patterned open shirt with a black t-shirt underneath and blue jeans and on his finger a gold ring. Yoland is wearing a buttoned cardigan/Jumper, gold necklace half chain with a cowboy boot charm and a black knee length skirt. They discuss robbing a restaurant because the restaurants don't expect it. They decide to do it and begin the robbery. Ringo is talkative and swears a lot. Even though he talks about serious topics, such as crimes he is very calm about it. His partner Yoland is weird with her odd sense of behaviour. she is very quiet until they begin the robbery and she becomes wild and viscous gives that unexpected side for the audience. Ringo is very calm about the robbery giving it that light hearted humour for the audience.

Locations
U.S.A - California - L.A, Beverley Hills and North Hollywood

Theme
Crimes, Drama, Thriller, Weaponry - Guns - Violence

Iconography
John Travolta - Famous American Actor (Well known for - Grease, Face/off and Hairspray)

Samuel L. Jackson - Famous American Actor (Well known for - The Incredibles, Star Wars Episode 1-3 and Unbreakable)

Tim Roth - Famous British Actor (Well known for - Reservoir Dogs, Planet of the Apes and The Incredible Hulk)

Bruce Willis - Well known German actor (Well known for - The Sixth Sense, Die Hard, The Fifth Element and Armageddon)

Record Placement and Feature of Credits
Credits started at 4:35 minutes in, scene freezes but sound still operates from that scene. The Distributor is then put on lasts for 5 seconds, in white text, followed by the film title moving up screen in yellow and red, with black background. This zooms out slowly and names of actors come up in white, last for 4 seconds each. The title of film is small and fades away, then credits of actors move up screen other credits shown for 4 seconds.
Music supervisor is shown and the song changes, the same song is played in the car of the opening sequence after the credits end at 6:46

How effective was this
I like the Music supervisor credit when the song changed, very fitting and funny made the credits seem less boring. The credits where too long but putting the important credits first is common within a movie. Found I recognised the songs when played during the credits give it more entertainment to the audience.


(Picture Source - http://pinartarhan.com/blog/pulp-fiction-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/)

Thriller Research - Top 10 Thriller Movies

Taken from IMDB's Top 50 Thrillers Movies

http://www.imdb.com/chart/thriller

1.) Pulp Fiction
















2.) Inception

3.) The Dark Knight

 

4.) Goodfellas

5.) Fight Club



6.) Rear Window

7.) Pyscho

8.) The Usual Supsects

9.) The Silence of The Lambs

10.) Se7en